Every so often our government comes to the brink of collapse, when a budget isn’t passed and the it has to shutdown. Almost always it’s political, with one side saying they want to spend less and the other side saying they need to spend more. To the average American this fight usually doesn’t impact them on a personal level, but a few years ago it did. Several years back when the government shut down for several days, the garbage bins out at the LTVA areas south of town weren’t getting emptied. Trash mounded up all around the bins and I remember seeing picture after picture complaining about the mess. Finally, politicians reached an agreement, whether good or bad isn’t the issue, and the bins were emptied.
That little bit of chaos was all the impact of a nationwide shut down of one of the most powerful countries to ever exist, and yet, that upended a lot of people’s lives. Just think about that, a small piece of a larger issue and it made people rant and rave. Why? Because when something small is out of place it can have a big impact, just like a small piece of rock in a shoe can ruin an entire day.
And it’s this idea of a seemingly small thing out of place, that brings us back to our final Sunday in our TikTok Theology series, where we’ll be looking at a practice that is rampant in both how cults start and how Christians use the Bible. This practice is called proof texting. But before we jump into our video today, let’s talk about what we’ve looked at up until this point in the series, where we are looking at short form videos on the internet. These short form videos are where many people are getting their understanding of theology, history, and biblical understanding.
We started this whole series off with the mindset of God’s calling to breakdown arguments so that we might give a defense for why we believe in Jesus. In our first week we looked at a video that claimed that the concept of eternal conscious torment wasn’t in the Bible. It’s these types of arguments that we are called to breakdown. In this case, the Bible paints a very poignant image of what hell is, and it should be one of the motivations for us to share the Gospel, because if God doesn’t desire that anyone go to hell, then we shouldn’t want them there either.
In the second week we talked about how Christianity is a historical belief system. We did this through addressing claims that it was basically made up or weaponized by the Roman emperors. We address these things, because the lies of conflating Christianity with later Roman practice, miss the Jewish roots and the biblical prophetic fulfillments. And unlike other belief systems, Christianity either happened in a historical context, or it didn’t. Therefore if it didn’t it doesn’t matter, but since it did, it’s the most important history a person can learn.
Finally last week we looked at the translation of a word. The reason we did this was because there was a claim that a word was mistranslated on purpose, so that women would be subjugated to men. We talked about how getting something small wrong can lead to getting bigger ideas wrong too. So we took time and dissected the claims and found that not only is the word translated well, but that because it was translated well, the bigger idea was the exact opposite of what was claimed. The Bible doesn’t put forth the subjugation of women, but rather their equality with men in being the image bears of God. This reemphasized the point, that when you get the small things right, you’ll find that the big things turn out right too.
With that last three weeks in our minds we are going to turn attention to one last argument and one more issue that we need to be prepared for as we share our faith.
The video is from a group that refers to themselves as the Hebrew Israelites. You might have heard them also be called the Black Hebrew Israelites. To give you a little background on the group. They believe that, “Blacks, Hispanics and Native Indians…are the children of Israel spoken of in The Holy Bible.” That they broke their covenant with God and so were dispersed across the world. They also profess to believe the whole Bible, and that they follow the Messiah, Jesus (https://www.saintsofyahawah.org/about-us). They believe that Christians and those that call themselves Jews today are not the people of God (https://youtube.com/shorts/Z5u26MpQQEc?si=s4LbTzJUeJU5RxEC). Finally, skin color plays a large role in how they interpret the Scriptures (https://www.saintsofyahawah.org/history/the-true-messiah-color-is-in-the-holy-scriptures).
With that information, let’s watch the video together: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gg_3mf8GySc?feature=share
A little side note before we begin, usually I use the same translation that a person presents, because it doesn’t bother me in many cases, however, because of the length of some of the passages we’ll be looking at, I’ll be using both King James and our normal English Standard Version.
The central theme of the video, could be summed up in this phrase, “faith without works is dead.” And as followers of Jesus, we can say “Amen” to that, because the Scriptures do say that in the verse that was quoted. However what the video gets wrong is both what Christianity teaches and what faith without works means in the Scriptures.
In the opening statement, the first man states, “A lot of these religions, Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, a lot of people teach, all you need is faith. You don’t have to worry about the commandments, you don’t need to know law, that’s not what the Bible says. We here to tell you the truth. You don’t need no works, this is what they really believe. That’s why the Messiah going to say, in that day, many will say, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not done this in your name, done that in your name?’ He’s going to profess unto them, ‘I never knew you (Matthew 7:23).’ He’s going to say, ‘Depart from me, I never knew you. Ye that work iniquity. You lawless ones.’ He’s going to be sending a lot of people away.”
The first man brings up Matthew 7:23 and we’ll actually address that at the end, because as you’ll see, it doesn’t mean what he’s trying to make it mean.
But let’s start with what he started with. He accuses Christians of believing that you don’t need works. The second man then reads James 2:17 which reads in the KJV, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” W can see that there’s no manipulation of the words of Scripture.
Form this this, the first man then stated, “So if you have faith with out works…if you have faith without works is dead. You need the works, you just can’t have faith alone…You need works, you can’t just have faith alone.”
So now if we can agree that “faith without works is dead,” why he is accusing Christians of teaching that you need faith alone, what is the difference that he is trying to make?
The root of this issues is actually about a biblical understanding of what is salvation. When we don’t have a grasp over what salvation is, then we misapply God’s word as we just saw in the video. So let’s talk about what is salvation. Salvation itself is an umbrella term for God’s saving work, to which Scripture gives us several markings that both lead up to and make up idea of salvation. There are different approaches to dissecting the idea of salvation in Scripture. Some use things like the Romans road. I personally like to read passages that present the whole of salvation in one sitting. Ephesians 2, is one of those passages. Let’s read through the chapter and notice how Paul presents what salvation is.
From the ESV we read, in Ephesians 2 starting in verse 1, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Let’s stop right there for a moment, because already, we have seen the three most important markings of salvation.
The first marking is a recognition of sin; sin is the breaking of God’s commands, which are set down both generally in nature and specifically in his word. Every person that has ever lived has broken God’s commands and so therefore are sinners (Romas 3:23). This is actually what sends us to the hell that we talked about in the first week of this series. Paul uses phrases like, “dead in the trespasses,” “following the course of this world, according to the prince of power,” “passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.” Paul is addressing sin, and that sin isn’t something we ourselves can’t fix, because as he also states, “we were dead in our trespasses…” dead people can’t fix anything, but when we recognize we have sinned, the next marker in salvation can begin.
The second marking of salvation is God’s work through Jesus. Paul talks about God’s “rich mercy” and “great love” and he begins to use this phrase, “by grace you have been saved.” So because of God’s great mercy and love, he saves us or provides a way by which we can be rescued from sin. This, Paul states, is a “gift of God not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” And this is the first time Paul uses the word works. And that word means, work, task, deed, or anything that could be made (https://biblehub.com/greek/2041.htm). So the initial saving work of God has nothing to do with us. We can’t work for it, nor can we earn it in anyway. In theological terms, we call this justification, which Paul states in Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” It’s the same idea that we see here in verse 8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith…” By Paul saying that it is by faith we are justified and saved, yet it’s not by our works, he is separating faith from works. Faith, as we have talked about before, is trusting what God has said and done. I trust that what God says is true, I am a sinner in need of saving, and he has provided that saving through Jesus’ work on the cross. This is actually what we see has always been how salvation happens throughout the whole of Scripture. So when the Hebrew writer in chapter 11 of their book states twenty times that the people of God by faith were counted as righteous, we see that God has always brought salvation through faith or trusting in what he has done. The initial justification, which is the beginning of salvation, is done by trusting in what God has said, always has been, always will be. This is why Christians are accused of saying that all you need is faith, because trusting in what God says is all that we do in the salvation process.
Yet the problem, both for the Hebrew Israelites and two we present the Gospel to people lies, in not talking about the third marker of salvation. Notice that as soon as Paul talks about how salvation is by God’s grace and not by a person’s work and makes it clear that we are not saved by our works, but through faith, which is trusting in God’s work, he immediately goes into verse 10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” This is the third marking of salvation. In theological terms it would be called sanctification, which means to be made holy as God is holy. Paul opens his first letter to the Corinthian Church this way, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our’s…(1:2)” Within this sanctification of the individual, they have been joined to Jesus’ Church and are intended by God to produce good works. Notice, that works come after initial justification and are a result of the working of God through and in the believer’s life. And its this marking that James is actually talking about. By putting James 2:17 in it’s context, we get a better idea of this this marker. Starting in James 2:12 we read, “12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;”
James is writing in the context of discussion of a believer within the Church. A believer who has the idea that they do not need to be active in God’s third marker of salvation, God’s sanctifying work. So James is saying, how can you say you had the initial faith of justification, when the working out isn’t happening? The two are linked. From justification that happens by faith, God’s good work is going to happen, because that’s his intent. If we say that we just have faith and nothing is to come after, then what we’re really saying is that I never entered into salvation in the first place.
Salvation is both, the free grace that is imparted on the believer when they trust in Jesus as their Savior, i.e. justification, and the outworking of that faith in the transformative work through the believer, i.e. sanctification.
This is where the Matthew 7:23 verses comes in. And as he quotes it, I am reminded of a line from the movie “The Princess Bride.” In the movie, the Sicilian keeps using the word, “Inconceivable,” anytime something happens. His swordsmen tells him, “I don’t think it means what you think it means.” That’s what’s happening here in Matthew 7. Let’s read it in it’s context. Starting in verse 19 where we read, “19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ 24 Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.…”
In the context, Jesus is talking about a tree producing fruit and in this case it’s good fruit; trees that don’t produce good fruit are cut down. But then Jesus switches to kingdom language and who will enter the kingdom. Notice that people will say to Jesus that they did a lot in his name, prophesied, cast out demons, and many other wonderful works, these things didn't get them into the kingdom of heaven and in fact are related to works of the lawlessness of sin. What causes them to leave the presence of Jesus is the fact that Jesus “never knew” the person. The “knowing” is experiential knowledge. They never truly understood Jesus, they never trusted him in faith; they thought their work could get them in with Jesus, but works alone apart from being known by God is connected to works with sin. This is why in Isaiah 64:6 states, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” No matter how “righteous” our works are, without that initial justification by faith, all works are nothing, and those that hope in their works will find that they cannot enter into Jesus’ kingdom.
Salvation is given by the grace of God to those who trust in his work through Jesus on the cross, and who are being transformed through the Holy Spirit to produce the good works God intended us to have from the beginning of creation. These are the markers of true salvation. It’s a both and, not either or. And so in the end, the biblical understanding of faith vs works, is that it holds both together for the people of God, and we cannot separate them in such harsh ideas as being perpetuated by those who say it’s all about faith, or its all about works.
So my challenge this week, is to seek the Lord in this area. If you haven’t’ accepted Jesus as your Savior and you’re trying to earn your way into heaven, take a step back and realize you can’t work your way into God’s good graces. So seek God to break down the works based mentality and give you the ability to embrace his mercy and love.
For the believer, God has saved you to do good. It’s a transformative work of the Holy Spirit to crucify the desires of sin, and seek the righteous work he has planned for you to participate in his strength.
Let us not go to the extreme of trying rely on ourselves as if we could to enter heaven on our own good merit, nor the other end of not seeking the good works God has planned for us. Instead let us follow as the Spirit leads to accomplish what he desire, so that we may see the work of God in us and around us. Amen
